Brooks Robinson on the Hall of Fame and the Orioles

Peter SchmuckThe Baltimore Sun

Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson looked fit and upbeat as he took part in the news conference announcing that Ron Santo has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He praised Santo as one of the great third basemen of all time and weighed in on a number of subjects, including the current state of his health and the current state of the Orioles.

"I've got a couple of procedures to go, but after the middle of January, I'll be all finished,'' said Robinson, who has had several procedures to deal a liver problem and faces surgery to correct a hernia. "But I don't want to bore you guys with that."

Brooks looked much more chipper than he did at the unveiling of his statue on the Washington Blvd plaza on Oct. 22 and he said he is feeling good. He also said he is happy to see the changes in the Orioles front office.

"I think we need some new blood down there,'' he said. "It's a new guy with new ideas. This has gone on too long."

He was upbeat, however, about the prospects for some of the young players and applauded the job that Buck Showalter has been doing since taking over as manager in August of 2010.

"These young pitchers got a few lessons,'' he said. "I think they should be a lot better this year."